Contender
by StoryGuy960
Summary: Ash is a fifteen year old boy from the quiet Pallet Town. He has always had dreams of becoming a pokemon master and he will take on this task with his starter Charmander. He will catch many new pokemon along the way to add to his team and together, they will face countless enemies who will not hesitate. Ash and his team must grow stronger together in order to survive this challenge
1. Chapter 1

**Contender- Kanto arc**

 **Chapter 1: A single step.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own pokemon.**

 **A/N: Hello everyone. This is a redone version of my original story, Journey to Top Them All because I didn't like where it was going. I decided to change the name from the original idea of Conquest, to Contender because…why not? If you like Conquest more, I'll change it back but for now I'm sticking to Contender. Ash will be starting with Charmander in this story. Give me any ideas you have for the story you have. I hope you like the new way the story goes and tell me how you feel about the changes.**

* * *

Pallet Town, a quiet little town in the south-western corner of the Kanto Region. Home to the famous pokemon professor, Samuel Oak. The town is very quiet, and the people are polite. Not much happens here but very soon, three teenagers will start their pokemon journeys and bring some fame to this quiet town.

First is Leaf Green, a 15-year-old girl who is usually silent but will not hesitate to make her opinion clear, and will loudly do so. She has always been fascinated by the Bulbasaur evolutionary line and as such has wanted her starter pokemon to be the grass type, Bulbasaur. It is the perfect match for her calm personality as it prefers to spend much of its time relaxing in the sun, absorbing light, but will gladly battle if it feels the need

Second is the 15 year old grandson of Professor Oak, Gary Oak. Gary Oak has always been known to be smooth in every sense of the word. Not much seems to faze him and he just goes with the flow of what happens around him. He has always wanted the water type, Squirtle, to be his starter pokemon due to his fluid personality. Squirtles go with the flow just like Gary does and will prove their will to be the best or even just relax.

Last but not least, is Ash Ketchum. Ash has always been the loudest and most outspoken of the trio and has been known for his fiery passion in every situation. Since he was a small boy, he has dreamed of having a Charizard like the champion of Kanto has. Lance is the dragon master and champion of both the Kanto and the Johto region and with his powerful team of dragons has defended his title for seven years now. Ash saw his powerful Charizard and always wanted one, so he has wanted to start with a Charmander as his starter for years. Charmander would be a perfect match with Ash's energetic personality and everyone would agree, both pokemon and trainer will grow with each other.

All three trainers have been taught the basics of being a trainer since they were ten years old and could all be considered extremely knowledgeable on all parts of battling and caring for their pokemon. They know how to battle, heal, cook for pokemon, care for them, and even know how to care for pokemon eggs and raising an infant pokemon. When the three were thirteen, professor Oak took them to Azalea Town in the Johto Region to learn the art of making pokeballs from Kurt, an expert pokeball maker. For some reason, people think that specialty pokeballs are made exclusively with Apricorns when in reality they can be made with most inanimate objects. He taught them everything he knew about making pokeballs and with a creative idea from Gary and Ash, they helped him make a new custom type of pokeball.

One day when they were learning, Ash and Gary brainstormed and came up with a new idea for a pokeball. They wondered if they could make the pokeballs look similar to the pokemon contained inside. The two of them told Kurt their idea and he became intrigued with the concept and experimentation began when professor Oak provided technology from the pokedex.

They managed to infuse the technology used in the pokedex that identifies the scanned pokemon and combined that tech with artificial made ditto cells to be able to change the appearance of the pokeball. This was proven correct when Kurt used one of these special pokeballs to catch a wild geodude near the town and it developed a rocky surface similar to that of the geodude. With their success, Kurt helped each future trainer make a total of thirty of the aptly named Transform Balls which have the catch rate similar to that between a great ball and an ultra-ball. The name became even more appropriate later in the year.

Kurt called professor Oak and asked to talk to Leaf, Gary, and Ash. He told them that the geodude he caught in the pokeball evolved and with it, the pokeball itself changed. He described the changing process as similar to the Pokémon's evolution. The ball glowed white, and he noticed small parts of the ball morph slightly. When the evolution stopped, the pokeball stopped glowing and he noticed the change more clearly. The ball now had the six "eyebrow" ridges of a Graveler above the main button with two rocky line above the line and below the line to match the four rocky limbs of the pokemon. The three were ecstatic about this and looked forward using them on their journeys when they turned fifteen.

Now all they had to do was wait for the day they all start.

* * *

 ***Time Skip***

 **Pallet Town- Six months before journey starts**

It was six months before Ash and his friends started their journeys and nothing seemed to be out of place until Ash's mother received a call from the professor at her restaurant.

"Ash, could you come here please?"

Ash walked to the back of the restaurant to her little space where the phone is located and found his mother looking at him smiling happily. "Yeah Mom?"

"Professor Oak called and wanted to see you and the others today. Go down to his lab and meet Leaf and Gary there. Professor Oak wanted to talk to you guys about something regarding your journeys. Now go on, Shoo!" Delia said laughing.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Said a smiling Ash.

Ash left the restaurant and walked down the road to the Professor's Lab and Ranch to meet with his childhood friends. When he arrived, he saw Gary waiting at the front door and Leaf walking towards the lab from another path. He waved at her and yelled a quick "Hey" which got both of their attention. Leaf waved happily while he saw Gary mouthing "Finally".

"What took you guys so long?!" Gary yelled with a smirk on his face.

Leaf chimed in, "Sorry Gary, we don't live right next your grandpa's lab so it takes a bit longer to get here."

"Excuses, Excuses. Whatever you two, let's go inside. They wouldn't let me to the back before you two got here so it must involve all three of us." Gary said

The three teenagers walked into the lab and one of his assistant nodded to Gary and they walked farther back into the lab and saw the professor standing next to a rectangular table with a the retractable glass cover set to be non-see through (think glass container from beginning of black and white 2 that changes from black to clear.). The three line up where Oak gestured for them to stand and said, "Can any of you guess why I called you here today?"

Ash remembered something and said "Isn't this the table you use to give trainers their…starter…pokemon?…No way. Are you giving us are starter pokemon now?"

"Excellent guess Ash. You are right, but only partially." Oak responded jovially.

"What do you mean by partially, Grandpa?" Gary asked confused.

"Well you see, I am giving you one last test. What is under this glass, is currently not your starter pokemon, but they will be soon." Oak presses a button and the glass clears and retracts to reveal three large eggs with symbols in front of them. One was a golden orange, one was a light blue color, and the other was a spotted, light green color. "Your final test is to care for your starter's egg until it hatches, raise the baby pokemon and bond with it until you all start your journeys."

The three teenager's jaws dropped in shock because they never saw something like this coming at all. They were all excited for the opportunity to have more time to bond with the pokemon that will be their partner pokemon and best friend.

Leaf spoke up for the first time since Oak revealed the surprise, "Thank you so much, Professor."

"It is no problem my dear, I'm happy to give you three the opportunity. I know you will do excellent and that's why I'm allowing you to do this. Now since I know you three have already selected the starter you wanted, I will call your name, come get your egg."

Professor Oak walked over to the table. "For Leaf, I have the egg of a Bulbasaur." Leaf walked over, and a smiling professor handed the egg to her careful hands.

"It feels almost leathery." Leaf said

"For Ash, I have here a Charmander egg." Ash walked over, and the golden orange egg was placed in his arms.

After feeling it for a second, Ash said, "It feels hard, scaly, and really warm."

"And I haven't forgot about you, Gary, I have a Squirtle egg here for you." Gary walked over to his grandpa and the light blue egg was placed in his arms very carefully.

Gary grunted for a second, "Wow, it's really heavy." Gary walked back over to the other two teens and faced his grandpa again.

"Now you three, this is a lot of responsibility for a starting trainer and something you should know is that the better you take care of the eggs, the healthier the pokemon that hatches will be. Now for Leaf, I recommend you leave the egg in direct sunlight so it can absorb the solar energy. Gary, you should place your egg in shallow water. You can use either a bathtub or even your old kitty pool and put it in your room. For Ash, yours is likely the highest maintenance, you must keep it at a high temperature. You can use your homes fireplace, a fire type can help, or I have an egg incubator that can have an open flame underneath that will not harm the egg. The three nodded happily

"Thank you very much professor/Grandpa." All three teens said together.

"Oh yes, one more thing, the three eggs you have there were part of a special breeding program that I personally took a part of. They will have special moves that the average starter does not have. This breeding program has been going on for the past 80 years and each of your pokemon eggs came from pokemon that showed extremely high energies of certain types and traits.

"Leaf, your egg came from two Venusaur showing an even larger amount of grass type energy than the average Venusaur and your Bulbasaur will likely develop differently with more grass energy and traits that the average Bulbasaur does not have."

"Gary, your Squirtle came from a very unique pair, they had a high amount a steel type energy due to their high defense and an abundance of rock type and ice type energy. It will likely have higher defense and possibly have more armor on its body."

"Ash, your Charmander came from the two strongest Charizards in the Charicific Valley who each had an overabundance of dragon type energy which slightly worries me. The levels were comparable to that of pseudo-legendries such as Dragonite and Salamence. Dragon type energy is one of the most volatile energies in the world and I'm unsure how it will affect the Charmander when it hatches. I expect that it will have more pronounced draconic traits that will become even more pronounced as it grows and evolves.

"Now I have given you everything I can for now. Do your best to care for the eggs and bring each baby pokemon back after it hatches so I can examine them to make sure they are healthy and record their unique traits.

* * *

 ***Time Skip***

 **2 weeks later- Ketchum household.**

It had been two weeks since professor Oak gave Ash, Leaf, and Gary the eggs for their starters and all three took the professors advice in caring for their eggs.

Leaf kept her egg in her window with it open, so the sunlight would directly hit the egg and it hatched the day before into a healthy male Bulbasaur with harder skin and with larger scales on its body that resembled tree bark likely to increase the defenses of the grass type.

Gary had taken his grandfathers advice to heart and brought an old kitty pool into his room, filled it with some water and partially submerged the egg in the water and it had hatched about one hour earlier into a healthy male Squirtle that had a slightly extended beak (picture something like a snapping turtle) meant to improve bite power and it's shell seems to be segmented like overlapping scales likely to increase defense.

Ash was now staring at his Charmander egg which has still not hatched but moves quite a lot so it must be close. He began to fall asleep on the couch he had been sleeping on for the duration of the egg waiting, when suddenly, the egg began to shake vigorously and fell out of the fireplace.

Ash quickly put out the fire that came with the egg, before anything could truly catch on fire. Ash quickly refocused on the egg that was shaking insanely on the floor and cracking slightly. It then glowed and when the glow faded, a small, yellow/gold reptile stood in his living room with one two brilliant, almost glowing green eyes and with a small flame currently on the end of its tail. It shook its head quickly before looking around the room curiously before locking eyes with Ash after a minute of looking around.

It slowly walked over to the young man and Ash kneeled down and spoke softly, "Hi there, Charmander, my name is Ash, nice to meet you." While Charmander was too freshly hatched to fully understand what he was saying, he recognized the kind tone he was using and smiled happily and then yawned. Ash reached over and carefully picked up the sleepy pokemon and held it carefully to avoid catching on fire from its tail flame, and the young pokemon quickly fell asleep in his arms.

Ash places the newly hatched pokemon on a special fire-proof blanket and examined it more and realized something quickly. Instead of the usual orange of a Charmander, this one was a light golden color which means only one thing. This is a shiny Charmander.

He then examined the shiny Charmander and noticed it was fairly large for a new born likely due to its dragon traits. He also noticed many other unique traits about the pokemon. It had what appeared to be hard, overlapping scales that covered most of its body but were still mostly smooth. Its arms appeared to be longer with larger hands and currently dull claws. It had small spikes going down its neck, all the way to its tail and had larger fangs on both the upper and lower jaws that slightly stick out of its mouth. It even has small ridges above its eyes giving it an appearance of boney eyebrows likely to help protect its eyes. These traits will likely become even more pronounced as it grows and evolves.

Ash decided to scan the baby tomorrow when he receives a pokedex from the professor tomorrow to fully train the pokemon. He did want to identify if it was male or female first and scanned it with his trial dex which only told him species and gender with no other details.

 **This Speciman closely resembles a Charmander but with key differences. The specimen happens to be a male.**

Ash nodded and laid down on the floor with a blanket and fell asleep next to the young Charmander using its body heat and the heat from his tail flame to fall asleep.

* * *

 **That's it for chapter one of the new story. Tell me what you think about everything in the chapter such as the title, concept, and any changes you might recommend. Before you all suggest pokemon I should keep from the original story, a couple will stay, but I plan on a certain team similar to the first I ever made while playing pokemon fire red.**

 **I especially enjoyed writing about the Charmander which was going to be shiny because Charizard is my favorite pokemon and the shiny version is even cooler. One thing I would really like it nickname suggestions for the Charmander, which will eventually become a Charizard. If I like the name enough, that might become the name I use in the story. Please nothing extremely generic. So thanks for reading. I hope you like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own pokemon.**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, I'm really glad you like the first chapter of the story and I hope you like how it goes from now on. Thank you all for nickname suggestions for Charmander. He is likely the only pokemon that will have a poll for a nickname because half of the delay on this chapter was working out finer details for the story. Things such as names for the pokemon, when they evolve, and even what pokemon gym leaders will use have been almost completely decided but I'm still open to suggestions for nearly everything.**

 **Another big reason there will be delays with chapter releases is that college has started again. Most of my time will be spent focusing on my courses and I do still have to work which takes some of my thinking and typing time away from me. I will do my best to get the chapters out as quick as I can.**

 **One more thing, for the couple of people who gave long as hell reviews based entirely on grammar and your opinions on the story and how you didn't like it, don't do that. It is beyond annoying and will not change a thing in the story aside from a couple slight mistakes I made. But do not give me grammar lessons on stuff I only really have time to write at 1:00-2:00 in the morning. Sorry if I came across as rude but it was annoying as hell. I deal with grammar lesson enough in English. There's a reason I am not an English major but a bio major.**

 **Anyways, lets get on with the next chapter of the story. I hope you like it**

* * *

The morning after Charmander hatched, Ash was lying on the living room floor where he fell asleep with the newborn pokemon and was all was quiet. He began to wake up slowly and when he finally opened his eyes, he was looking directly into the brilliant green eyes of the Charmander. Ash reflexively jumped slightly before recalling the events of the night before. He reached up and pet the head for a second before sitting up.

"Hey there little guy. Did you sleep good last night?"

Charmander nodded happily with a happy sounding, "Char!"

Ash smiled and said, "Glad to hear that. Hmm. Maybe I should give you a nickname. Would you like one?" Charmander just gave him confused stare for a minute with a slightly tilted head before Ash remembered he hatched literally the night before. "Right, a nickname is a special name just for you that I call you instead of just calling you what you are."

Charmander gave a small look of realization before nodding happily.

"Hmm. How about Vulcan? It's a good name for a fire type like you and I think it'll fit perfectly when you eventually evolve into a tough Charizard. What do you think?"

While Charmander was too young to understand the meaning of everything he said, he liked the sound of the name. He nodded vigorously to make sure Ash knew he liked it.

"Well alright. Vulcan it is. My name is Ash, I will become a pokemon trainer in a few months and I will be going on my journey then. Trainers travel around a region, catch more pokemon, and battle more trainers to become stronger. Every two years, trainers come together to participate in the pokemon league which a trainer needs the eight gym badges of the region to be eligible. You would be my first pokemon and travel with me to become stronger and eventually evolve into a Charizard. Would you like to come with me and become the strongest Charizard you can possibly become?"

While he was too young to know everything Ash was saying, he perked up when he heard Ash say Charizard. Every Charmander had the desire to become the strongest they can become and evolve into the flying pseudo-dragon. With Vulcan, the desire was even stronger with his draconic affinity and traits. After hearing this powerful speech by Ash, he was extremely excited, and his tail flame began to grow with his excitement. He then yelled his name loudly and jumped up and hugged Ash.

"Glad to hear it, pal. Our journey together is going to start in no time at all. Less than half a year." Ash said while hugging the young Charmander. "Before anything else, I need to capture you in this ball so that you will be my pokemon and nobody else can catch you." Ash said while holding out one of his transform balls. "All you have to do is press the button.

Vulcan tilted his head but reached out one of his claws and lightly tapped the center button on the transform ball. Immediately, Vulcan was converted into red energy and absorbed into the open ball which shut with a quick snap. The ball shook slightly as Vulcan was unused to it before clicking in conformation and the began to glow. After the glowing ceased, the ball was covered in what appeared to be golden scales the same texture as Vulcan's scales. Ash smiled at the ball containing his partner pokemon with joy in his eyes. Ash pointed the ball away from him and released Vulcan from the ball.

The red light materialized into Vulcan who began to shake his head quickly to shake off the weird feeling.

"Was is that bad? Or was it just weird? Ash asked worried. Charmander nodded when he said the second thing. "Oh alright. It'll get better over time. Most pokemon don't mind them that much."

"Ash, are you awake down here? Im going to head to the….Oh my." Delia gasped when she saw Vulcan. "It hatched? When was this? Why didn't you tell me? Does it have a name? Why does it look so different?" Delia kept shooting off multiple questions and Ash and Vulcan could barely keep up.

"Mom! Settle down, he hatched last night. He is shiny and his dragon genes effected him. And finally, his name is Vulcan." Ash managed to stop the questions and he saw his mother begin to tense up. "Are you alright, Mom?"

Suddenly, she ran over and picked up the young pokemon and held him close before either could do anything to stop her.

"Wait Mom! Be careful!" Ash began to warn when he saw that she was keeping the tail flame away from her.

"You don't have to worry about me Ash. I have enough common sense to keep the tail flame away from me." Delia said smiling at her son.

"Just making sure, many people forget until they are already on fire."

The two laughed at this before his bother put Vulcan down, and left for the restaurant.

"Alright Vulcan, let's eat and head to the lab so that I can introduce you the the professor and maybe learn a little more about how unique you are." Ash said to the smiling reptile.

After a hearty meal, Ash made the trek to the lab from his house passing by his mothers restaurant. He waved at his mother inside and kept walking until he was almost to the lab. When he arrived, he saw Oak talking to Gary and examining a young Squirtle with the professor making observations.

"He seems to be in perfect health, slightly elongated mouth perfect for biting. Small plates on top of head for extra protection along with harden eye lids to protect the eyes. Its shell is already an inch thinker than that of a two-year-old Squirtle. That explains why the little guy is as heavy as he is. Let's not forget the way his shell is segmented like scales instead of the smooth shell a Squirtle usually has.. Simply amazing. A very healthy specimen, Gary. He is as healthy as them come and will grow wonderfully." A proud professor said to his only grandson.

"Thanks for the checkup Gramps. Glad to know that this little guy is perfectly healthy. Gary said patting the Squirtle on the head. He then turned his head, "Oh? What are you doing here, Ash?"

"Well Gary, my egg hatched last night before I went to sleep" Ash said holding up Vulcan's pokeball.

Professor Oak spoke at this point, "Now that's an interesting development, both of your eggs hatching on the same day. Well, let's not delay any further. Ash please release your Charmander onto the table next to Squirtle."

Ash opened the ball and Vulcan materialized next to Squirtle and stood next to the turtle. When the red light vanished, it revealed the young Charmander with barely a flinch from the pokeball this time around. Just looking at the size difference between the two starters revealed that Vulcan was a good foot taller than Squirtle even though Squirtle too was taller than average. Vulcan looked at Squirtle and happily waved at him which Squirtle happily returned.

Ash looked at the professor whose jaw was dropped in shock at the size and unique features of Vulcan. Even Gary had his mouth slightly agape at Ash's starter.

"Are you guys alright?"

"I-I-I don't really know what to say right now. It's simply astounding. Your Charmander appears to be nearly three feet tall despite the fact that it hatched only last night. It is also a bright golden color which means that it also a shiny. Not to mention all of the draconic traits he displays." Oak got closer to Vulcan and began to inspect him further He began to talk under his breath, taking note of all of the things he saw. "He has overlapping scales similar to Squirtle's." He lightly touched him, "Scales are remarkably hard for its age. Longer arms with larger hands and claws. Appears to have small spikes going down its spine. Will likely grow and develop with evolution. Largest fangs that I've ever seen on a Charmander. And even the scales above the eyes are more pronounced and give the appearance of an eyebrow ridge."

Ash smiled at the professor's enthusiasm and said, "He's very unique. His name is Vulcan."

"Ah, a fitting name. Especially when he fully evolves. That finishes my examination. This is a very healthy specimen and I can only imagine how powerful he will be when full grown." He faced Gary and continued, "Both of your pokemon will be very powerful and they still need time for their bodies and muscles to develop further. I imagine these two will be quite the rivals when fully evolved."

Both pokemon heard that and locked eyes with each other with determined looks in their eyes. The professor and trainers began to laugh when they saw the Squirtle locking eyes with determination despite the size difference between the two. It looked very comical to say the least.

"Well, while you two are here, you should scan them with this pokedex. Since Gary got here first, he will start." Oak said and held out a pokedex for Gary to use. Gary pointed it at Squirtle and used the scan feature.

 **Squirtle- The Tiny Turtle Pokemon**

 **Squirtle's shell is not merely used for protection. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize the resistance in water, enabling the pokemon to swim at high speeds.**

 **Sex:** **Male**

 **Ability:** **Torrent, Rain Dish (hidden ability)**

 **Known Moves:** **Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Mirror Coat, Haze, Aqua Jet (Not unlocked), Aqua Ring, Aura Sphere (Not unlocked), Dragon Pulse (Not unlocked), Water Spout (Not unlocked)**

 **Note:** **This specimen has many unique traits. Harder and thicker shell. Elongated beak which will means stronger bites. Segmented overlapping shell opposed to the smooth of the standard shell. This Squirtle is also 2 feet tall instead of 1 foot, eight inches tall. Muscle mass will grow with age.**

"That's a lot of good moves. We'll work together on unlocking all of them and mastering them all." Gary said and gave a fist bump to Squirtle which it happily returned.

"Now it is Ash's turn to scan Vulcan."

Ash took the pokedex and scanned Vulcan with it.

 **Charmander- The Lizard Pokemon**

 **The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the pokemon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.**

 **Sex:** **Male**

 **Ability:** **Blaze, Solar Power (Hidden Ability)**

 **Known Moves:** **Scratch, Growl, Ember, Bite, Dragon Dance, Dragon Rush, Dragon Pulse (Not unlocked), Outrage (Not unlocked), Ancient Power (Not unlocked), Crunch (Not unlocked), Flare Blitz (Not unlocked).**

 **Note:** **This specimen displays many traits that can be considered "draconic". This is likely due to a specialized breeding program and an excess of dragon type energy. It is a foot taller than the average Charmander and also appears to have the shiny gene which changes the coloration of the pokemon. The excess of dragon energy and draconic genes could affect the typing of the pokemon as it evolves. Please report future findings to your sponsored professor.**

"Wow, Vulcan, you're going to be very strong when you're older." Ash complimented.

"I agree with you Ash, young Vulcan will be a paragon of his species along with your Squirtle Gary. With much training, your two starters will become extremely powerful. I look forward to seeing each of you with your fully-grown starters." Oak said with pride in his voice. "It felt like just yesterday, you two were just small children dreaming of going on your pokemon journeys and becoming masters. But now, you two are fifteen years old and only six months away from going on your journeys. It brings tears to an old man's eyes." Oak raised his hand and brushed away a small tear that had formed in his eye.

After the tear, Professor Oak looked at the two trainers. "Now I'll tell you the same thing I told Leaf when her Bulbasaur hatched. Your journey will start the day after this Pokemon League season finishes. Come here at 8:00 in the morning to receive your pokedex and you can officially start your journey. Another group of trainers will be starting that day with the usual starters I give to beginner trainers. The only reason I gave you the special eggs is because you three are extremely qualified and got the three highest test scores from the tests I gave to teenagers. The other three teens are Ritchie, John, and Kathryn."

"You will all have a total of two years until the next Indigo League conference. You have two years to collect all eight regional gym badges and train as much as you can to try to become the league champion. You would then have the opportunity to challenge the elite four and champion for the chance to become the regional champion. You can do this anytime you want or not at all."

"Now that that's all over, you two should go home and bond with your starter more. I will send you off in six months."

Gary and Ash returned their starters, turned to each other and walked home. "See you later." Both said at the same time.

* * *

 **Pallet Town- Six months later**

The sun was slowly rising over Pallet Town and the Pidgeys were beginning to sing their early morning wake up calls which slowly woke up the rest of the town.

Ash slowly opened his eyes to the sound of the bird pokemon. He grumbled and turned over before his brain caught up and he remembered what day it was. He quickly shot up from bed and landed on the floor with a loud bang. This startled the sleeping Vulcan who panicked. He shot up from his fire proof pokemon cushion bed and shot a quick ember accidentally.

Ash dodged the small fireball and looked at Vulcan. "Sorry for scaring you. Today's the day we start our journey. I'm so excited…What's that smell, bud?"

Vulcan just pointed behind him with a nervous look on his face. He turned around to see that the bottom of his curtains were on fire. "Oh crap." Ash quickly poured water on the fire and stomped it out.

"What's going on up their Ash? I'm not going to find anything on fire up there, am I?" Delia yelled from downstairs.

"No Mom, nothing is on fire,… At least not anymore." Ash yelled back saying the last part quietly.

Delia suddenly walked in, "I heard that, what was on fire?

Ash just sighed and pointed at the curtains. "I put it out as soon as I noticed. I accidentally scared him."

Delia just rolled her eyes. "Just get ready to go to the professor's, I'm going to go make breakfast. Meet me down there with the little trouble maker when you're ready." Delia left the room and went downstairs to make a simple breakfast to send Ash off with.

"Are you ready bud, traveling all the Kanto region and becoming as strong as can be. We'll make new friends and battle as many people as we can. And we will win the Indigo Conference in two years!" Vulcan was nodding with each statement and getting more and more excited. This could be seen with his tail flame growing more intense and him baring his fangs in a smile.

Vulcan had grown and developed a lot in the past six months. He was still the same height, but his muscles had developed a lot and gave the Charmander much strength. He was physically more powerful than the average starter Charmander by far. His longer arms have grown thicker and have developed thick scales on his forearm similar to that of a Feraligatr. His scales have also grown harder and sharper in some places. He has met the other Charmander that will be going to one of the other rookie trainers and while not aggressive, everyone who saw the two knew which one was in charge.

Vulcan became the more dominant of the two for a simple reason. That's just what the Charmander line's social structure is. The most powerful is the leader or alpha as most call them. It is just hardwired into Charmander DNA to grow stronger and become more dominant than others of its species and this urge becomes stronger when the Charmander evolves. Charizards are usually solitary creatures preferring to be alone to train and occasionally form very tight-knit groups that function similar to a family.

These groups are often called battle packs. This pack will train together, sleep together, and relax together and will fight to the death to defend a member of the pack. The pack will also likely start families within the pack. If you mess with one of them, you are essentially signing your own death warrant. The rest of the group with viciously fight the aggressor, to the death usually for attacking one of their group. This makes training a Charizard hard at first due to it's solitary nature, but it will become easier after a period of time. The Charizard bonds with the trainer and other pokemon in the team and essentially forms a battle pack with pokemon other than other Charizards. A trainer with a well-trained Charizard is to be feared with the Pokémon's instinctual battle lust and the will to defend its trainer and team with its life. There is nothing scarier on a battle field than a Charizard fighting to avenge a team member knocked out of battle and hurt. It will be the most vicious display of raw power you will likely see and gives chills and fear to all but the strongest of trainers.

Ash looks forward to the day that Vulcan will evolve into a Charizard and become the vicious dragon he knows he will become. Ash changed into his traveling gear, grabbed his bags, and him and Vulcan went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Ash and Vulcan ate as quick as they can without getting scolded by Delia and left the house for the lab. Ash was running at a decent pace with Vulcan running alongside him trying his best to run on two legs as fast as Ash but eventually giving up and using his longer and stronger arms to run on four legs and quickly surpassed Ash. They got to the lab about two minutes later with Ash panting a little bit and Vulcan not even breaking a sweat. Vulcan just snickered at his trainer's predicament and the two began to wait for the other trainers to arrive.

"I wonder what time it is?" Ash checked his watch and groaned when he saw it was only 7:30. "Great, it doesn't start until 8:00, we are here way too early." Ash said aloud to the annoyance of Vulcan. Vulcan gave him a deadpan look before warming the ground beneath him with ember and curling up to lay down.

"Hey, get up, it's not that long until the others get here, get up, you lazy lizard." Ash ordered halfheartedly. Vulcan raised his head at Ash with annoyance in his eyes but got up anyways grumbling in a disgruntled manner.

"I don't know what you just said but I know it wasn't nice." Ash said in response to the grumbles. Vulcan gave an affirmative nod before turning his head and happily pointing down the road. Ash turned his head and saw Gary walking down the road with Squirtle calmly walking besides him. They were obviously not in the hurry Ash and Vulcan were to get to the lab.

"Hey, Ash, you ready to start our journeys? And let's not forget our first battle when we leave the lab, which I'm going to win by the way." Gary taunted in a joking manner.

"You bet, and I hate to break it to you, but I'm going to be the one walking away with a win today." Ash said bumping fist with Gary.

Below the two, Vulcan and Squirtle were giving each other determined looks and exchanging taunts of their own. The two of them had developed a friendly rivalry similar to that of their trainers and are looking forward to the battles they will have against each other.

Ash and Gary talked for a while before a sleepy Leaf joined them with the others following within minutes. They all sat there conversing until 8:00 and then Oak opened the door wide.

"Hello, everybody. Today is a wonderful day. Today, each of you start your journeys further into the world of pokemon on your own to explore. You can travel together don't worry, but I'm sure most of you will be traveling alone. You will travel with pokemon and will hopefully catch more in your travels. Now, come inside and you can get your starter if you don't have one already and you will all receive your pokedex." Oak said gesturing inside the laboratory.

All six teens walked into the lab and lined up in front of the table with three pokeballs on it with each starter inside of them.

"Since Ash, Leaf, and Gary already have their starters, it is your turn to get yours. Ritchie, John, Kathryn, who is going to go first?" John immediately raised his hand and stepped forward and grabbed Squirtle's ball. Ritchie and Kathryn already knew which starters they wanted and walked up together and grabbed their respective starters. Ritchie got Charmander and named him Zippo for some reason, and Kathryn received the Bulbasaur.

"Now that everyone has a starter pokemon, you will all receive your pokedex and pokeballs. Come up and grab one and five pokeballs."

Each teenager went up and grabbed their pokedex and five pokeballs except for Leaf, Ash, and Gary who already had their transform balls.

"Now, each of you have everything you need for your journey, you have your partner, pokedex, and pokeballs, I am always here and I would like you to call frequently to update me on your journeys or even just to say hello. You can transfer your pokemon in a pokemon center phone by calling me and I will transfer the required pokemon to you. Now, what're you waiting for? Begin your journeys."

All of the teens cheered and quickly left the lab. Ash and Gary went to the small field outside of the ranch and separated until they were about twenty feet apart. Leaf got on the side between the two of them to be the referee while each released their starters.

" **BATTLE….BEGIN!"**

* * *

 **I know cliffhanger, sorry. I ran out of thoughts and I became too tired to write tonight. I know it's not an extremely large chapter and they likely will not be. Between my busy school and work schedules, I have very little time to actually write the story so super long chapters are not likely to become a reality at least for some time. The more important events will be larger than the rest but likely each chapter will be about this long, maybe longer, maybe shorter.**

 **I hope you guys like what I did going more in depth into Charizard behavior. I hope you like the fact that I made Vulcan end up running better on all four limbs which I plan on having it become more quadrupedal as it evolves but still being able to use two legs. Two legs will be regular but four legs will be for battles and quick, precise movements instead of the awkward running a regular Charizard does. I think it'll be cool and I hope you do when I manage to write it into the story.**

 **As always, thanks for reading and I will see you next time with Ash, and Gary's battle and the actual traveling beginning. I will update as soon as I can.**

 **I had this chapter done almost two weeks ago but my computer was not allowing me to upload it to the website.**


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